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ALDE calls on European Commission to ensure there will be no Schrems II

Date

02 Feb 2016

Sections

InfoSociety

Justice & Home Affairs

Security

Today, reacting to the statement of Commissioner Jourova on the talks with the US on the safeguards for the transfer of personal data for business purposes, the ALDE First Vice President, Sophie in 't Veld, urged the European Commission to make sure the US offers real and solid legal safeguards for citizens' rights. The Commission has to decide whether the safeguards offered by the US are sufficient, and whether they meet the standards set by the ECJ ruling.

Sophie in 't Veld: "The Safe Harbor arrangement was a kind of blanket authorisation for transferring personal data to the US. The lack of safeguards led the highest court of the EU to scrap it as the court considered after the Snowden revelations that the US could not provide sufficient guarantees for the privacy and rights of EU citizens".

"Let's not make the same mistakes we have made in the past. We need to know the legal status of the commitments the US are making"

Commissioner Jourova said the US have so far offered 'written assurances, signed at the highest political level' as a guarantee to protect personal data transferred by companies from the EU to the US. The US also propose an ombudsman "with a real capacity to act" to oversee the activities of the US intelligence services".

Reacting to this, Sophie In' t Veld added: "I can only fully judge the proposals once we have the details, but I am not reassured by these commitments. The legal status of "written assurances" or "Signatures at the highest level" is very unclear. And can we really expect an Ombudsman to oversee US secret services?"

" In addition, the ECJ was very clear: the key issue is the limitation of the use of personal data to what is necessary and proportionate. There is no proposal to that effect. If the US is really interested in free trade with the EU, they should pass an act in Congress, so we have real legal guarantees".

"If the Commission takes a decision to authorise the transfer of data, we have to be absolutely sure it is solid enough. If not, the day after the decision Max Schrems and a thousand of his friends will go to court, and we will start all over again"